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Holy Fade Batman...

Haven't been participating much, been slammed, apologies, but had to share...

What you see is, from what I can tell, a Royal Blue 1997 CE24 with a 3-piece top. It's coded as a "CE3RBT O-STOCK." I found a thread on TGP where Hans posted a pic of a PRS CE print ad/catalog indicating that there was indeed a 3-piece 10-Top option available. This one does not have a 10 stamped on the back of the headstock, and from the (very) busy cavity shots it is an "o-stock." Overstock? I have head of the stamped "B" for artist relations guitar, but curious if that's the same thing?

Cool top! Wicked flame! But can't say as I care much for the previous owner's modification of "bumpy chrome knobs"

Check out that fade, original color under pup rings...

VERY busy neck pickup cavity - WTF does this all mean???

Another hint at the original color:

Other than the photo of the yellow one on TGP, I have not seen another 3-piece top CE, and 10-Top or not, it's mesmerizingly beautiful in a slightly hideous way.

Not alot of experience with mid-90s PRSi but pups are VB/HFS with black/gold stickers, pots and all else look original. Sounds pretty killer, all of my other CEs are alder or alder/MT this definitely has a different sound. Neck is nice, feels a little more beefy than the older WTs but still lovely.

I would assume that it was before the sticker/barcode system. Mine looks the same on the inside... well minus the letters crossed out. Usually it tells you the same stuff the sticker does now... like colour, top, serial, etc...

Wow! Now that is rare. And a little odd. If someone came into my shop claiming they had a 3 piece top, I would have been VERY skeptical. To a point where I would question their judgment of tops. But here it is! They exist! Very strange indeed.

lol... also my number is 715, 614. I would assume that means that our guitars were 6 apart. They were probably sitting next to each other on the drying racks lol

They're like guitar bros. Or bras. Your top does look more uniform than mine, maybe mine was intended to be a 10-top but didn't make the cut, hence the lack of a stamp on mine. Still dying to know about the "O-STOCK"

Definitely has its own sound, closer to my Standard than my other CEs.

Is that amount of fade normal? Was it left in the sun? Jeez, seems like a lot of color evaporated there....

I don't know much about its pre-Carl life, only that it was taken in by a Guitar Center in St. Louis, MO and only a few days later fell into my grubby hands. It certainly seems to have had an easy life, so it could have been hanging on a wall somewhere sunny I guess.

I have seen the most dramatic fades pics posted involving guitars on the blue spectrum, not sure if there is a scientific reason behind color vs. fade degree.

Seems like 1997 Royal Blue finishes just have a tendency to fade a lot. Here is my 97 CE, it's faded so much in some spots that you can see some brown coming through. The original blue can still be seen in the 3-way toggle recess. I personally love the look. Also mine has the same "O-Stock" and scribbles in the cavity as Carl's.

Man, I would love to decode some of this cavity-speak. Yours says CE22RBST - Royal Blue Stop Tailpiece? Maybe the letters after the color notation is Trem versus STop? Gibson's ends in a T and is a Trem as well...maybe that portion of the pre-modcat has nothing to do w 10-Top vs not?

Very cool guitars guys! Good conversation pieces, but I'm sure they're not bad to play either.

Not too shabby Andy, not too shabby...

The 97 3-piece is interesting - my other CEs are older, alder-bodied ones. The 97 although WT definitely feels beefier, and is noticeably heavier as well. In fact, it feels heavier than my Standard...might have to get the scale out.

Single coil tones on the 97 are not quite as sparkly as on the older ones, but there is a nice smoothness to the guitar, most noticeable on the buckers. Probably because of the mahogany?